Networked freezer stocking management

ABSTRACT

A system for an ice merchandiser having a compressor in a compressor enclosure to cool the ice merchandiser includes a sensor disposed within the ice merchandiser, and a communications component disposed within the compressor enclosure and coupled to the sensor to receive signals from the sensor representative of the amount of ice in the ice merchandiser, wherein the communications component is configured to convert the received signals to a digital format and publish the signals via a network connection.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/451,513 (entitled INTEGRATED NETWORKED ASSET MANAGEMENT, filedMar. 10, 2012) which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Managing ice merchandisers to keep them stocked with bags of ice hasbeen performed by drivers of ice trucks, who visit sites and check theice merchandisers visually to determine whether more bags of ice shouldbe added. This process leads to wasted effort when the ice merchandisersdo not need more ice. It also may lead to delay in refilling icemerchandisers and result in lost sales if not refilled quickly enough.

One proposal to begin to address such problems has been to add weightsensors under the ice merchandiser to weigh the entire ice merchandiser.This retrofit solution is not able to offer level information on morethan one product inside the merchandiser and its components, allexternal, may be negatively impacted by adverse weather conditions orsubject to tampering or vandalism.

SUMMARY

A system for an ice merchandiser having a compressor in a compressorenclosure to cool the ice merchandiser includes a sensor disposed withinthe ice merchandiser, and a communications component disposed within thecompressor enclosure and coupled to the sensor to receive signals fromthe sensor representative of the amount of ice in the ice merchandiser,wherein the communications component is configured to convert thereceived signals to a digital format and publish the signals via anetwork connection.

In one embodiment, the sensor includes a camera and a heating elementproximate a lens of the camera.

In another embodiment, an ice merchandiser is fitted with at least oneweight scale that sits in the bottom of the ice merchandiser to measurethe weight of ice bags placed upon it. The scale in one embodimentcovers substantially the entire floor of the chest. The scale providesan output to a system outside a cooled volume of the ice merchandiser.The system takes the output and provides a signal on a networkrepresentative of the weight, and correspondingly, the ice supported bythe scale.

In some embodiments, multiple scales may be used in the chest side byside to measure the weight of different sized bags of ice placed uponthe scales.

In further embodiments, temperature sensors and contact switches may becoupled to the system to provide signals representative of temperatureinside and outside of the chest, as well as whether a chest door is openor not.

The system may provide signal processing to provide signalsrepresentative of the sensed parameters to the network. In oneembodiment, the system includes a device having an IP address tofacilitate exposing the sensed information via a website like interface.A wireless modem may be included.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system to detect stocking of ice in anice merchandiser according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a top view of components in a compressor container for the icemerchandiser of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side block diagram illustrating further details of a sensorsystem within the ice merchandiser of FIG. 1

FIG. 4 is a block schematic diagram of an example heater.

FIG. 5 is a block flow diagram illustrating functions performed inaccordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an example interface to interact with the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram a system for performing functions andcommunications according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way ofillustration specific embodiments which may be practiced. Theseembodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood thatother embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical andelectrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. The following description of example embodiments is,therefore, not to be taken in a limited sense, and the scope of thepresent invention is defined by the appended claims.

The functions or algorithms described herein may be implemented insoftware or a combination of software and human implemented proceduresin one embodiment. The software may consist of computer executableinstructions stored on computer readable media such as memory or othertype of storage devices. Further, such functions correspond to modules,which are software stored on a storage device, hardware, firmware or anycombination thereof. Multiple functions may be performed in one or moremodules as desired, and the embodiments described are merely examples.The software may be executed on a digital signal processor, ASIC,microprocessor, or other type of processor operating on a computersystem, such as a personal computer, server or other computer system.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 to detect stocking of ice inan ice merchandiser 110 according to an example embodiment. One or moredifferent types of sensors may be placed inside the ice merchandiser 110in various embodiments. In one embodiment, a sensor includes a camera115 placed to obtain images, such as still images or video images ofitems, such as bags of ice placed on one or more platforms 120, 122inside of the ice merchandiser 110. In one embodiment, platform 120 isused to hold bags 124 of one size, and platform 122 is used to hold bags126 of a different size.

In one embodiment, the camera has a lens that provides field of view 128that is wide enough, such as at least 70 degrees in one embodiment thatis sufficient to enable someone to determine whether the items needrestocking. One or more further sensors may be included, such as atemperature sensor 130 disposed within the ice merchandiser 110 tomeasure the temperature within the ice merchandiser. Sensor 130 may alsoinclude multiple sensors to sense further parameters, such as humidityin further embodiments.

In one embodiment, the platforms 120 and 122 may comprise load cells,forming weight scales that sit in the bottom of the ice merchandiser tomeasure the weight of ice bags placed upon them. The scales may be usedwith or without the camera, and the camera may also be used without thescales in various embodiments. In one embodiment, one scale is used thatcovers substantially the entire floor of the chest and measures thepressure on each of four feet supporting the scale off the floor of thechest. In further embodiments, the scale provides a linear analog outputrepresentative of weight. The output may be provided to circuitry eitherinside, or outside the ice merchandiser 110, such as within a compressorenclosure 140 housing a compressor 142 and fan 144 in variousembodiments, where the output may be converted to standardized signalsuch as a linear zero to five volt signal representative of the weightof ice bags on the scale.

The scale has a low profile such that it does not adversely impact thecooling volume of the ice merchandiser for holding ice bags. The scalesare sized to fit within the ice merchandiser, and to ensure that theycover enough of the floor to accurately measure the amount of icestacked on them. In some embodiments, some space is left between wallsof the ice merchandiser and sides of the scale to ensure that the scalesare not adversely affected by interference from the wall. The space isalso small enough to ensure that bags of ice are properly accounted forby the scale without falling between the scale and walls. Such a sizedscale is said to substantially cover a desired portion of the icemerchandiser floor. As can be seen, there is some tolerance permitted.

In some embodiments, multiple scales may be used in the chest side byside to measure the weight of different sized bags of ice placed uponthe scales. In an ice merchandiser with two doors, one door may be usedfor bags of one weight having a first scale, and the other door may beused for bags of a different weight having a second scale. Thus, twoweights are provided to the system for publishing via the networkconnection. In some embodiments, the system may provide alerts regardinga need for restocking one side or the other of the ice merchandiser whenthe weight falls below a desired level. In various embodiments, thealerts may be provided via text messages, email, voicemail or othermechanisms including various social media. Information regarding the icemerchandiser may be accessible from at least mobile devices, computersystems, and other devices capable of providing information.

In further embodiments, temperature sensors and contact switches may becoupled to the system to provide signals representative of temperatureinside and outside of the chest, as well as whether a chest door is openor not. FIG. 2 is a top view block diagram of components in thecompressor enclosure 140. A compressor electrical enclosure 210 containscircuitry for controlling the compressor and fan, as in standardcompressor designs. In some embodiments, sensors are provided to sensetemperature within the compressor enclosures 140, external temperature,and compressor power draw. Still further sensors may be included infurther embodiments.

A communications enclosure 215 is included, and contains circuitry forcontrolling the sensors that have been added to the ice merchandiser 110in various embodiments. The circuitry has an IP address and modem, andprovides data to a network such as the Internet, representative of thesensed parameters, such as images, weight, temperature, humidity orother parameters that may be sensed, and correspondingly, the icesupported by the scale. In one embodiment, a web enabled sensorappliance, such as a Maverick IP Sensor Appliance by Mamac Systems,incorporates a web server, analog/digital inputs and relay outputs. Theappliance operates with any 24 VAC transformer, and may be plugged intoa hub/router. Any web browser can be used to enter the default IPaddress to receive the data.

FIG. 3 is a side block diagram illustrating further details of thesensor 115 within the ice merchandiser 110 of FIG. 1. A circuit board310 has a camera 315 mounted on it, along with a light emitting diode320 (LED) near the camera and corresponding lens of the camera. In oneembodiment the camera 315 and LED 320 are enclosed in a transparentcamera enclosure 325. The camera enclosure 325 may be made ofpolycarbonate materials in one embodiment, and the volume enclosed maybe heated sufficiently by the LED 320 to remove or prevent moister fromcondensing or freezing on the lens of the camera 315, allowing a clearfield of view of the items stocked in the ice merchandiser 110. Infurther embodiments, the LED 320 may be positioned very close to thelens to obviate the need for the enclosure 325. The proximity of the LED320 to the camera may thus vary in different embodiments, but should bewithin a distance to allow it to perform the function of providing aclear field of view. In addition, the LED 320 may serve to illuminatethe items for viewing. In still further embodiments, the camera mayinclude circuitry to allow for imaging without the use of visible light.

The circuit board 310 may further include control circuitry 330 whichcan be used to control the camera and LED, and communicate with thecircuitry in the electrical enclosure 210 in various embodiments. Theprocessing of data may be split between such circuitry in variousembodiments, or only one set of circuitry may perform all the functions.In still further embodiments, one or more sensors, such as temperaturessensor 335 may be included on the circuitry board 310.

FIG. 4 is a block schematic diagram of an example heater 400 that may beused to provide a clear field of view for the lens of the camera. Theheater may include a substrate having fine resistive heating wires toprovide heat when powered via circuitry. The substrate may be adhesive,with the wires on or embedded, similar to add on rear windshield heatersfor automobiles. The heater 400 be positioned proximate the lens of thecamera or in the field of view of the lens on or embedded within thetransparent camera enclosure 325. The heater may be positioned outsidethe field of view on the camera enclosure 325 if it provides sufficientheat to create a clear field of view when images are obtained.

FIG. 5 is a block flow diagram 500 illustrating sensed parameters andcomponents involved in data flow in various embodiments. Internalconditions 510 represent conditions inside of the ice merchandiser 110in one embodiment. Internal conditions may include measurements from twoscales at 512 and 514, the camera 516, and internal temperature 518.External conditions 520 may include compressor enclosure or hoodtemperature 522, compressor power draw 524, a maintenance log 526, andpower loss indications 528.

The information collected corresponding to these conditions is thencommunicated via the communications module 215 at 530. The module 215may be a 3 G, 4 G, WIFI, or other type of wireless communications modulein various embodiments that is coupled to the internet represented at532. The information is then provided to server 534, and back via anetwork 536, such as the internet, to a provider of the items at 538.The provider 538 may be an ice company in one embodiment responsible forrestocking the ice merchandiser. One or more user interfaces may beprovided on a personal computer, smart phone, tablet, or other deviceenabling a person responsible for restocking to determine whether or notan ice merchandiser needs restocking, and with what types of items. Theinformation may distinguish between different sized bags of ice, such as10 lbs or 20 lbs.

FIG. 6 is an example interface 600 to interact with the system ofFIG. 1. In one embodiment, the server 534 processes the information andcreates a user interface allowing viewing of the information in variousforms. Multiple different parameters may be published and viewable viainterface 600. A web type interface, or any number of other media, suchas social media, including email and other forms of electroniccommunication may be used. Still further, the system may provide visibleand audio alerts proximate the ice merchandiser.

In example interface 600, images are shown at 610, 612, 614. The imagesmay be thumbnail images that are linked to higher quality images infurther embodiments. The newest image is indicated at 614, with priorimages available to the left side of the display. In one embodiment,clicking on the latest image may initiate communications back to thesystem 100 to provide a real time image.

A graph 620 illustrates desired parameters over time. In someembodiments the time frame may be selected by the user in a commonmanner. Illustrated on graph 620 are internal ice merchandisertemperature 622 and ambient temperature 624, which varies significantlyover the few days that are shown. As desired, the internal temperature622 is fairly constant. Note that a winter environment is like occurringin this representation as the ambient temperature dips below theinternal temperature. While temperature is shown on the graph, otherparameters may be shown in further embodiments. In addition, a link tomultiple settings 630 may be provided to enable the user to changetiming of when data is periodically provided, or change any othercontrol points used to control the system 100, including the compressorand fan in some embodiments.

Some example control points and corresponding notes are shown in thefollowing TABLE 1:

TABLE 1 Product Product Level Measured Level Within ±5% Product LevelDifferentiation by Merchandiser Side Compressor Status DefrostMonitoring and Control Electric Current Draw Monitoring Power OutageMonitoring Compressor Hood Temperature Change Monitoring MaintenanceTracking and Alerts Interior Case Temperature Temperature ChangeMonitoring Merchandiser Door Status Open Door Alarm Set Points

FIG. 7 is a block diagram a system for performing functions andcommunications according to an example embodiment. FIG. 7 is a blockdiagram of a computer system or circuitry which may be used to processand publish sensed data and information according to an exampleembodiment. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, a hardware and operatingenvironment is provided that is applicable to any of the circuitry,servers and/or remote clients shown in the other Figures. It should benoted that many devices to provide the functions described herein may beformed with far fewer components than described below. Components may beincluded or excluded as desired and appropriate for the functions to beprovided.

As shown in FIG. 7, one embodiment of the hardware and operatingenvironment includes a general purpose computing device in the form of acomputer 700 (e.g., a personal computer, workstation, or server),including one or more processing units 721, a system memory 722, and asystem bus 723 that operatively couples various system componentsincluding the system memory 722 to the processing unit 721. There may beonly one or there may be more than one processing unit 721, such thatthe processor of computer 700 comprises a single central-processing unit(CPU), or a plurality of processing units, commonly referred to as amultiprocessor or parallel-processor environment. In variousembodiments, computer 700 is a conventional computer, a distributedcomputer, or any other type of computer.

The system bus 723 can be any of several types of bus structuresincluding a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and alocal bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memorycan also be referred to as simply the memory, and, in some embodiments,includes read-only memory (ROM) 724 and random-access memory (RAM) 725.A basic input/output system (BIOS) program 726, containing the basicroutines that help to transfer information between elements within thecomputer 700, such as during start-up, may be stored in ROM 724. Thecomputer 700 further includes a hard disk drive 727 for reading from andwriting to a hard disk, not shown, a magnetic disk drive 728 for readingfrom or writing to a removable magnetic disk 729, and an optical diskdrive 730 for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk 731such as a CD ROM or other optical media.

The hard disk drive 727, magnetic disk drive 728, and optical disk drive730 couple with a hard disk drive interface 732, a magnetic disk driveinterface 733, and an optical disk drive interface 734, respectively.The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules and other data for the computer 700. It should beappreciated by those skilled in the art that any type ofcomputer-readable media which can store data that is accessible by acomputer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital videodisks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories (RAMs), read onlymemories (ROMs), redundant arrays of independent disks (e.g., RAIDstorage devices) and the like, can be used in the exemplary operatingenvironment.

A plurality of program modules can be stored on the hard disk, magneticdisk 729, optical disk 731, ROM 724, or RAM 725, including an operatingsystem 735, one or more application programs 736, other program modules737, and program data 738. Programming for implementing one or moreprocesses or method described herein may be resident on any one ornumber of these computer-readable media.

A user may enter commands and information into computer 700 throughinput devices such as a keyboard 740 and pointing device 742. Otherinput devices (not shown) can include a microphone, joystick, game pad,touch screen, mobile phone, mobile pad, satellite dish, scanner, or thelike. These other input devices are often connected to the processingunit 721 through a serial port interface 746 that is coupled to thesystem bus 723, but can be connected by other interfaces, such as aparallel port, game port, wireless, or a universal serial bus (USB). Amonitor 747 or other type of display device, including a touch screen,can also be connected to the system bus 723 via an interface, such as avideo adapter 748. The monitor 747 can display a graphical userinterface for the user. In addition to the monitor 747, computerstypically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such asspeakers and printers.

The computer 700 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers or servers, such as remotecomputer 749. These logical connections are achieved by a communicationdevice coupled to or a part of the computer 700; the invention is notlimited to a particular type of communications device. The remotecomputer 749 can be another computer, a server, a router, a network PC,a client, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described above I/O relative to thecomputer 700, although only a memory storage device 750 has beenillustrated. The logical connections depicted in FIG. 7 include a localarea network (LAN) 751 and/or a wide area network (WAN) 752. Suchnetworking environments are commonplace in office networks,enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the internet, which areall types of networks.

When used in a LAN-networking environment, the computer 700 is connectedto the LAN 751 through a network interface or adapter 753, which is onetype of communications device. In some embodiments, when used in aWAN-networking environment, the computer 700 typically includes a modem754 (another type of communications device) or any other type ofcommunications device, e.g., a wireless transceiver, for establishingcommunications over the wide-area network 752, such as the internet. Themodem 754, which may be internal or external, is connected to the systembus 723 via the serial port interface 746. In a networked environment,program modules depicted relative to the computer 700 can be stored inthe remote memory storage device 750 of remote computer, or server 749.It is appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary andother means of, and communications devices for, establishing acommunications link between the computers may be used including hybridfiber-coax connections, T1-T3 lines, DSL's, OC-3 and/or OC-12, TCP/IP,microwave, wireless application protocol, and any other electronic mediathrough any suitable switches, routers, outlets and power lines, as thesame are known and understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.

On the upper left part of the above picture is a signal conditioner thattakes voltage signals entering the system on the lower part of thepicture and converts them to a zero to five volt range compatible withthe web enabled sensor appliance just below it. A model on the upperright couples the server to a wireless network. Wires from the sensorsmay follow the path of the condenser tubing placed on top of the icemerchandiser, and the entire device may fit inside the container for thecondenser and include an antenna on top of the container as shown.

1. A system for an ice merchandiser having a compressor in a compressorenclosure to cool the ice merchandiser comprises: a sensor disposedwithin the ice merchandiser; and a communications component disposedwithin the compressor enclosure and coupled to the sensor to receivesignals from the sensor representative of the amount of ice in the icemerchandiser, wherein the communications component is configured toconvert the received signals to a digital format and publish the signalsvia a network connection.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensorcomprises a camera and a heating element proximate a lens of the camera.3. The system of claim 2 wherein the sensor further comprises a housingsurrounding at least the lens of the camera, and wherein the heatingelement comprises a light emitting diode within the housing.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3 wherein the light emitting diode is positioned to heatair within the housing to remove condensation from the lens and toprovide light to illuminate an inside of the ice merchandiser.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4 and further comprising a controller to turn on thelight emitting diode to remove condensation, and to control the camerato provide images while the diode is on.
 6. The system of claim 4wherein the camera and light emitting diode are supported by a circuitboard.
 7. The system of claim 2 wherein the sensor further comprises ahousing surrounding at least the lens of the camera, and wherein theheating element comprises a heating wire configured to facilitatecapture of images of the ice merchandiser.
 8. The system of claim 2wherein the camera lens provides at least a 70 degree view of the insideof the ice merchandiser.
 9. The system of claim 8 wherein the cameralens is angled to provide a view of an entire floor of the icemerchandiser.
 10. The system of claim 1 wherein the communicationscomponent comprises a web server and a wireless network connection. 11.A device comprising: a weight scale adapted to be placed in an icemerchandiser to substantially cover a desired portion of the floorcorresponding to stacked bags of ice; and a system to receive signalsfrom the weight scale representative of the weight of the ice bags,convert the signals to digital, and publish the signals via a networkconnection.
 12. The device of claim 11 wherein the system comprises aweb server coupled to the weight scale.
 13. The device of claim 12wherein the system is located in a container that includes a compressorfor the ice merchandiser.
 14. The device of claim 13 and furtherincluding a second weight scale adapted to be placed in the icemerchandiser to substantially cover a second desired portion of thefloor corresponding to stacked bags of ice.
 15. The device of claim 14wherein the scales are adapted to measure the number of bags of ice onthem, wherein different size bags of ice are placed on each scale.